Sam Bowie
No. 31 Personal information Career information Career history Career highlights and awards |} Samuel Paul "Sam" Bowie (born March 17, 1961) is a retired American basketball Center. High School As a player in Lebanon High School, Sam was heavily recruited. He averaged over 28 points and 18 rebounds per game, and was a McDonald's All-American and Parade All-American. As a junior, he led his team to the state finals, where they lost by a point to Schenley High School of Pittsburgh. He was named Player of the Year over another heavily recruited center, Ralph Sampson. However, in a hyped game at the Capital Classic, called "Battle of the Giants" Bowie was outplayed by Sampson. Bowie also participated in the Dapper Dan and Derby Festival Classic. College Sam went to the University of Kentucky. As a freshman during the 1979–80 season, Bowie averaged twelve points and eight rebounds per game. At the end of that season, Bowie was picked for the United States Olympic men's basketball team, which eventually boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Bowie's sophomore season saw him average 17.5 points and nine rebounds per game. At the end of the season, he was named a third-team NCAA Basketball All-American by the Associated Press. Also in 1981, he set, and now shares, the Kentucky record for most blocked shots in a game, with nine. However, his college career was interrupted with severe injuries to his shinbone that ultimately sidelined him for two seasons. He'd actually developed leg trouble as early as high school; film from that era shows him struggling to avoid undue strain on his legs and feet. He returned in time for the 1983–84 season, where he averaged 10.5 points and nine rebounds per game while being named to the second-team All-American squad. During his senior season, his heroics in a game against rival Louisville earned him a spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated. NBA Sam entered the 1984 NBA Draft, being the 2nd overall pick of the draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. The first pick was Hakeem Olajuwon for the Houston Rockets. Rockets and Trail Blazers had a coin toss for the first pick; Houston won the toss. At the time, the pick appeared to make some sense from the Blazers' perspective; they'd been looking for help in the post since franchise player Bill Walton suffered the first of several foot injuries that would eventually end his career. During Bowie's rookie season, he played 76 games and averaged 10 points and 8.6 rebounds per game, which earned a spot for him on the NBA All-Rookie Team. However, he broke his left leg in 1985, and then broke his right leg in 1986--injuries unheard of in the NBA. The effect of this was playing only 5 games in the 1986-87 NBA season. In the 1987-88 preseason, he fractured his right tibia while walking around in a pregame shootaround and was lost for the season. Because of these injuries, he only played 63 games (out of a possible 328) during his last three seasons in Portland. On June 24, 1989, Bowie, who had averaged 10.5 points per game with the Trail Blazers, was traded, along with a draft pick, to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Buck Williams. Sam's four seasons in New Jersey were his healthiest and most successful; he averaged 12.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game and never missed more than 20 games in a season. His best season was his first with the Nets where he averaged a double-double with 14.7 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. Bowie also hit a career high in points per game in 1991-92 with 15.0, and played a career high 79 games in 1992-93 averaging 9.1 points per game and seven rebounds. After the 1992-93 season, Bowie was involved in a trade that resulted in Benoit Benjamin being sent to New Jersey in exchange for Bowie, who joined the Los Angeles Lakers. However, Bowie's injury problems resurfaced and his action in two seasons with Los Angeles was limited; he only played in 92 games and started 17. Bowie retired from professional basketball in 1995 to become involved in harness racing, although GM Jerry West, wanted him to stick around for a few years after that. References http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Bowie Category:Centers Category:Kentucky Alumni Category:Players who wear/wore number 31 Category:Portland Trail Blazers players Category:New Jersey Nets players Category:Los Angeles Lakers players Category:American basketball players Category:Retired Category:National Basketball Association players